Probably the most amazing, double-taking moment of this preseason came Sept. 22, when, in his first game with the Washington Capitals on a tryout basis, former Avalanche forward Matt Hendricks scored a hat trick in the Caps’ 6-2 win over Columbus. Hendricks quickly went from being a tryout guy to signing a one-year, $575,000 contract with the Caps – a $75K raise over what he made last year with the Burgundy and Blue.
I’m happy for the good-natured Minnesotan, who was a key part of the Avs’ run into the playoffs. Why did the Avs not bring him back, you ask?

***Update: Just to give you a preview of tomorrow’s story in the paper: It’s going to be a quiet day for the Avs on free-agent day. Also, Theo, Bruno, Sauer and Finger are good as gone.

Before I get started, let me just say this: the Tampa Bay Lightning are insane. They just gave Ryan Malone $31.5 million for seven years, guaranteed. Insane. This is nothing more than a mediocre power forward, who played on a line much of the time with Sidney Crosby and still had only 51 points in 77 games for the Pens last season. He was terrible in the Finals against Detroit, too, a total non-factor.
Mark my words, that signing will be the kind of albatross around Barry Melrose’s neck like Bobby Holik was to the Rangers, or Alexei Yashin on the Island.
Insane.

Francois Giguere should be making the media rounds today, talking about the Avs on the day before free agency.

I think it’s going to be a fairly quiet day for the Avs, but to quote Dennis Miller, I could be wrong. Read more…

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.

Chambers covers college and professional hockey for The Denver Post. He has written for the Post since 1994, after dumping his first 9-to-5 office job a couple years out of college. He primarily follows the University of Denver hockey team and helps cover the Avalanche.